Breaking now. India Air flight 171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick went down in civilian area just after takeoff. 242 passengers on board.

BREAKING:

A London-bound Air India Flight 171 has crashed into a residential area minutes after taking off from Ahmedabad, India.

The Boeing 787-8 was carrying 242 passengers and crew pic.twitter.com/3BEOCmXLXd

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) June 12, 2025

Don't see any flaps in that video (first thing that jumps out at me in terms of the aircraft not being in takeoff configuration).

This is the first 787 crash.

Ugh. Horrible.

akaggie05 said:

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Don't see any flaps in that video (first thing that jumps out at me in terms of the aircraft not being in takeoff configuration).

This is the first 787 crash.

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i was wondering if it was the first. very surprised to see it was a 787

Agree, certainly looks like flaps 0.

Early ADS-B data seems to just stop abruptly at 600 feet during initial climb. Total electrical failure? Wouldn't impact the flaps of course. Video may be misleading.

That looks crazy. Looks like it's landing.

Here's the statement from Air India

Air India confirms that flight AI171, from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, was involved in an accident today after take-off.

The flight, which departed from Ahmedabad at 1338 hrs, was carrying 242 passengers and crew members on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft. Of these, 169 are…

— Air India (@airindia) June 12, 2025

The injured???? How did anyone survive that crash? The fireball in that video was massive

Aggie Jurist said:

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Agree, certainly looks like flaps 0.

Early ADS-B data seems to just stop abruptly at 600 feet during initial climb. Total electrical failure? Wouldn't impact the flaps of course. Video may be misleading.

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Indian DGCA (think FAA) said mayday call went out but they lost contact post transmission.

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"As per ATC, the aircraft departed from Ahmedabad at 1339 IST (0809 UTC) from Runway 23. It gave a MAYDAY call to ATC, but thereafter no response was given by the aircraft to the calls made by ATC. The aircraft, immediately after departure from Runway 23, fell on the ground outside the airport perimeter. Heavy black smoke was seen coming from the accident site," the DGCA said in its preliminary statement.

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Quote:

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The aircraft was under the command of Capt Sumeet Sabharwal with First Officer Clive Kundar. Capt Sumeet Sabharwal is a LTC with 8200 Hrs of experience. The copilot had 1100Hrs of flying experience."

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How much is 8200 and 1100 hrs for a plane respectively?

normalhorn said:

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The injured???? How did anyone survive that crash? The fireball in that video was massive

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My guess would be ground injuries…

Don't see how anyone onboard would have survived…

akaggie05 said:

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Don't see any flaps in that video (first thing that jumps out at me in terms of the aircraft not being in takeoff configuration).

This is the first 787 crash.

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Same here. I don't see flaps. Unfortunately, Boeing will still get sued in this country for the deaths due to defective design/build/etc even though the 787 has a tremendous safety record and this plane has flown for 11 years.

We need to reform our litigation system in this country which adds a lot of costs to our products helping make them less competitive for export and drives up consumer costs here in the US.

Major parts of the plane are intact from ground footage/video. Looks to be tail end of plane.

a few twitter videos of many many charred bodies. it would be a miracle for anyone onboard to survive

One can hope…but that's a lot of fire…

Happened minutes after takeoff, reaching a height of only 700 feet. Early consensus on visual review seems to be no extension of flaps resulting in an immediate stall. It's been confirmed that a mayday call was made.

Another early discussion is allegedly confirmation of the RAT being deployed, which would suggest double engine failure, but there isn't a consensus on this as of yet.

Building it crashed into is being identified as the hostel for B.J. Medical College.

Quote:

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How much is 8200 and 1100 hrs for a plane respectively?

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8200 is quite a bit. That would fall into the "very experienced" category. 1100 not so much.

akaggie05 said:

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Quote:

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How much is 8200 and 1100 hrs for a plane respectively?

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8200 is quite a bit. That would fall into the "very experienced" category. 1100 not so much.

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In the US, 1,100 hours of flying wouldn't allow you to be a commercial pilot for an airline (with one exception where you need 1,000).

Outside US and Canada, I think you only need 250 hours. This is part of why US airlines are so safe.

Flaps not extended? How does that happen? I would think a 787 would be screaming "extend flaps! Stall! Extend flaps! Stall!" Or something along those lines?

Terrible for Boeing and the 787 in general. Prayers for everyone involved

akaggie05 said:

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Don't see any flaps in that video (first thing that jumps out at me in terms of the aircraft not being in takeoff configuration).

This is the first 787 crash.

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Looked like it was in landing position.

According to Grok

On a Boeing 787, flaps are controlled by a combination of hydraulics and electronics. In the primary mode, the flaps are positioned using the center hydraulic system. In the secondary mode, flaps can be positioned by hydraulic or electric motors, but the primary mode is the main method. The flaps are controlled through the flap lever, which sends a signal to the flap/slat electronic unit computer. This computer then activates the flap power drive unit (PDU) using the center hydraulic system.

Here's a more detailed explanation:

Primary Mode:
In the primary mode, the flaps and slats are controlled together and positioned using the center hydraulic system.

Secondary Mode:
In the secondary mode, flaps and slats can be controlled separately, and they can be positioned using either hydraulic or electric motors.

Control Input:
The flap position is controlled by the flap lever, which has multiple positions for different flap configurations.

Signal Transmission:
A position transducer tracks the flap lever position, and a signal is sent to the flap/slat electronic unit computer when the lever position changes.

Hydraulic Actuation:
The flap computer then activates the flap power drive unit (PDU), which is powered by the center hydraulic system.

Secondary Mode Limitations:
While the secondary mode allows for electric actuation, it is procedurally limited to flaps 20.

In essence, the Boeing 787 uses a sophisticated system where electronics control the flap lever and signal the hydraulic system to move the flaps, with electric motors as a backup in the secondary mode.



So I would think that the landing gear would be hydraulic controlled as well. Possibly a total hydraulic system failure during takeoff possibly? The black boxes will likely nail down the issue so finding it will be crucial

Iirc modern aircraft have 3 separate hydraulic systems. A failure of all 3 would be extremely surprising imo.

erudite said:

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Major parts of the plane are intact from ground footage/video. Looks to be tail end of plane.

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That looks more like the aft end of the cowl over the flap actuation system.

BTW - there will be an irrational drop in Boeing stock. Already off $16.55 in futures trading. Jump in and buy this morning.

reports confirming now no survivors

Again according to Grok

In a cold hydraulic failure scenario on a Boeing 787, manual flap deployment as in older aircraft with mechanical linkages to the flaps is not possible, as the 787 relies on an advanced flight control system.

Here's how the 787's flap system works and what happens in case of a hydraulic failure:

Hydraulic Operation: The flaps and slats on a Boeing 787 are typically powered by hydraulic systems.

Redundancy: The Boeing 787 is designed with redundancy in its systems to ensure safety. This includes backup systems for critical functions like flight controls and hydraulic power.
Alternative/Emergency Systems: If the primary hydraulic system fails, there are alternative or emergency systems to control the flaps.

Electric Power: The 787's flight controls rely heavily on electrical power.
RAT: If all engine generators fail, a Ram Air Turbine (RAT) can deploy to provide hydraulic power for critical functions.
Battery Power: Batteries can also provide backup electrical power for a limited time.

Alternate Flaps Selector: The cockpit includes an "Alternate Flaps Selector" to deploy the flaps electrically.
Important Considerations:
While the 787 has alternative and emergency systems, a complete loss of hydraulic power would significantly impact flap operation and potentially other systems.
In such a scenario, the flight crew would follow specific procedures outlined in the aircraft's documentation to manage the situation and ensure a safe landing, which may involve operating the aircraft with a reduced flap setting or no flaps at all.

In summary, while a traditional manual flap deployment system (via mechanical means) does not exist on the 787, the aircraft's design incorporates alternative and emergency systems to ensure that flaps can be deployed and controlled even in the event of a hydraulic failure, although potentially with limitations.

Was thinking early on maybe double bird strike leading to complete loss of both engines but if that were the case would we see smoke or something from the engines?

The hits keep coming for Boeing. Damn.

YouBet said:

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The hits keep coming for Boeing. Damn.

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They also have the most aircraft is service but yes it does seem lately they have had more issue than Airbus who has close to the same

don't see any visual evidence that there were engine problems based on that short video.

Looks like they've already created a Wikipedia page for AI Flight 171.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Flight_171

For whatever it's worth (six degrees of separation and all), I did fly on an Air India 787 back in 2019 once they started running the nonstop between Sydney and Delhi.

This flight looks like it never had a chance. Since there were only Indians, Brits, Portuguese and one Canadian on the flight, I guess the US NTSB won't get involved.

erudite said:

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Major parts of the plane are intact from ground footage/video. Looks to be tail end of plane.

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There are better pictures of this tail section floating around on other media sources. Looks like the concrete building caught the plane and stopped it.. most of it blew apart at impact.

All of the morning news shows seem to be looking at the flap position on the video so far…several experts saying the configuration looks wrong…

P.U.T.U said:

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YouBet said:

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The hits keep coming for Boeing. Damn.

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They also have the most aircraft is service but yes it does seem lately they have had more issue than Airbus who has close to the same

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The media doesn't give Airbus the same anal probing it does anytime one of their planes so much as farts.

If a Boeing built aircraft has the slightest issue, it is front page news, with the headline usually saying "Boeing plane".

HollywoodBQ said:

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This flight looks like it never had a chance. Since there were only Indians, Brits, Portuguese and one Canadian on the flight, I guess the US NTSB won't get involved.

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US built aircraft so the NTSB will be heavily involved.